Children with Cold Symptoms Posted or Updated on 25 Apr 2024

Now that children have returned to school it is important that you are able to access the right support if your child becomes unwell and that schools are able to signpost parents and carers to the appropriate sources of help.

General Practitioners are unable to provide individual risk assessments, letters or notes that a child is Covid-19 free or provide evidence of a child that has been told to self-isolate.

Should your child become unwell please see the following information:

Childhood illnesses:

If a child is unwell with other symptoms such as sore throat, earache, stomach ache, runny nose, skin rashes, or a winter related illness such as norovirus with vomiting and diarrhoea, then parents are advised to check NHS 111 online health condition advice – is my child too ill to go to school, and contact their local pharmacy or GP if they need further help. www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school

NHS 111 phoneline should only be used for an urgent medical problem where parents or carers are unsure what to do. If a child is too ill to attend school, the parent or Carer should advise the school as per normal and arrange to care for the child at home until they are well enough to return.

For schools there is also government guidelines that say when a child should be kept off school and when they shouldn't which can be accessed via: www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-protection-in-schools-and-other-childcare-facilities/chapter-9-managing-specific-infectious-diseases

Urgent & Emergency Care:

The following link explains how to access urgent assistance for a child: www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/urgent-and-emergency-care. The advice as always is to call 999 if it is a medical emergency - when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.